The winning edge
Subtitle: naval technology in action, 1939-1945
By: Kenneth Poolman.
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Annapolis, Md
Language: eng
Number of pages: 235
Subjects: United States. Navy -- Weapons systems -- History -- 20th century.; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Weapons systems -- History -- 20th century.; World War, 1939-1945 -- Naval operations.
Description: In this lively approach to recording the impact of technology on the war at sea, Kenneth Poolman presents comprehensive descriptions of new technical developments and then offers dramatic examples of their use in action during World War II. He explains how Allied navies deployed new weapons to combat the savage campaign mounted by German submarines and surface raiders against the Allies' supply lines.

Weapons like ASDIC (sonar), radar, high frequency direction-finding, forward-firing mortars, and rocket projectiles are examined in detail, as is the U-boats' use of acoustic torpedoes, Schnorkel tubes to breathe underwater, and the Luftwaffe's radio-controlled bombs in a war that became a conflict of technologies.

The U.S. Navy's development of radar as a counter to Japanese ships and aircraft is also fully covered in this book, along with an explanation of how U.S. submarines overcame their own faulty torpedoes to decimate enemy shipping. In addition, the author examines how Allied carrier aircraft, controlled by multi-channel high-frequency radio, eventually came to dominate surface actions.

Also included are details of the development and use of the sensitive listening stations that relayed enemy messages to cryptographers who broke "unbreakable" codes and important information about the special amphibious craft that put troops ashore in all theaters of war.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.